Shipments have included pharmaceuticals, fresh fruits and vegetables and almost 6,000 tonnes of sustainably-sourced seafood including Skipjack Tuna from the Maldives and American Lobster from Boston.

Emirates has also announced its first daily A330 service to Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen airport, 60 kilometres east of the city's Atatürk airport where the company already operates 11 weekly B777-300ER aircraft.

The company says its new flights to Sabiha Gökçen will save businesses in eastern Istanbul at least an hour's journey by truck to Atatürk Airport.

"Our cargo customers are increasingly looking for ways to ship their goods across the world at a faster pace. The introduction of service to Sabiha Gökçen not only provides an additional gateway for our customers in Turkey, but it also provides quicker access to shipping lanes for businesses located in eastern Istanbul," said Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president, Cargo.

Meanwhile as governments this week continue to negotiate a climate deal in Paris, the Guardiannewspaper cites a report suggesting the Gulf region will become effectively uninhabitable after 2070 without a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Writing in the peer-reviewed publication Nature Climate Change, professors Jeremy Pal and Elfatih Eltahir from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology predict 45C will become the usual summer maximum in Gulf cities, with 60C being seen in Kuwait City.